1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric coupling assembly for connecting an electrical circuit and an optical fiber and a method for manufacturing the photoelectric coupling assembly.
2. Description of the Background Art
With the development of broadband communication system, higher speeds and larger capacities have been needed for networked household electric appliances as well as for routers at network nodes. An application of an optical interconnection is expanding in which a photoelectric conversion is carried out at signal processing/transmission interfaces and a high-speed and high-capacity transmission is carried out by utilizing the broadband capacity of an optical fiber. Disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open No. 2005-43622 is a technique in which an electrical circuit and an optical fiber are coupled by using a photoelectric coupling assembly that includes a photoelectric conversion element (a light-emitting element or a light-receiving element) and an optical fiber holding member at a point of photoelectric conversion.
In the above document, an electrical wiring in the photoelectric coupling assembly may be laid from an end surface to a side surface of the optical fiber holding member, which offers a large degree of latitude with regard to the position of the photoelectric coupling assembly on the electrical circuit. However, forming three-dimensional continuous electrical wiring on a surface of an object is inherently difficult. In particular, forming electrodes that terminate within the end surface of the optical fiber holding member is extremely difficult when the end surface is slanted.